§ 605.7 - Declassification and downgrading.

(a) Declassification processes. Declassification of classified information may occur:

(1) after review of material in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), mandatory declassification review, discovery, subpoena, or other information access or declassification request;

(2) after review as part of ACDA's systematic declassification review program;

(3) as a result of the elapse of the time or the occurrence of the event specified at the time of classification;

(4) by operation of the automatic declassification provisions of section 3.4 of the Executive Order with respect to material more than 25 years old.

(b) Downgrading. When material classified at the Top Secret level is reviewed for declassification and it is determined that classification continues to be warranted, a determination shall be made whether downgrading to a lower level of classification is appropriate. If downgrading is determined to be warranted, the classification level of the material shall be changed to the appropriate lower level.

(c) Authority to downgrade and declassify. (1) Classified information may be downgraded or declassified by the official who originally classified the information if that official is still serving in the same position, by a successor in that capacity, by a supervisory official of either, by the Classification Adviser, or by any other official specifically designated by the Deputy Director. Contractor personnel do not have authority to downgrade or declassify.

(2) The Director of Security shall maintain a record of ACDA officials specifically designated by the Deputy Director as declassification authorities.

(d) Declassification after balancing public interest. It is presumed that information that continues to meet classification requirements requires continued protection. In exceptional cases, however, the need to protect such information may be outweighed by the public interest in disclosure of the information, and in these cases the information should be declassified. When such questions arise, they shall be referred to the ACDA official with Top Secret authority having primary jurisdiction over the information in question. That official, after consultation with the Public Affairs Adviser and the Classification Adviser, will determine whether the public interest in disclosure outweighs the damage to national security that reasonably could be expected from disclosure. If the determination is made that the information should be declassified and disclosed, that official will make such a recommendation to the Director or the Deputy Director who shall make the decision on declassification and disclosure.

(e) Public dissemination of declassified information. Declassification of information is not authorization for its public disclosure. Previously classified information that is declassified may be subject to withholding from public disclosure under the FOIA, the Privacy Act, and various statutory confidentiality provisions.